ESAA Combined Events North East - Incredible weekend as nationals await!

It was a scorching hot weekend in Doncaster as 13 Team Blyth juniors proudly put on their county vests to take on a weekend of combined events competition against the best multi-event athletes from across the North, with many hoping to qualify for national finals.

Junior Boys Pentathlon
Jacob Robertson and Ben Compton joined forces with friends Jacob (NS Poly) and Oscar (Gateshead) to form a fantastic team that built in confidence and camaraderie throughout the day. Ben produced a really solid series of performances including PB's in the 80m hurdles and a huge high jump PB to record an overall pentathlon PB of 1370pts to take 10th. Jacob was superb in his first ever hurdles race, set a big new high jump PB, and debuted superbly in all his other events to finish a fine 7th with 1633pts. The team finished with a strong total of 4847pts, to finish 2nd to North Yorkshire.

Junior Girls Pentathlon
The action kicked off on Sunday morning for our junior girls Caitlin, Amara, Fearne and Izabela, who were competing in an incredibly strong competition. The hurdles started the day. Everyone navigated the barriers safely with a new PB for Fearne. Shot put was next, with Izabela and setting Amara new life-time bests. The high jump saw the athletes gain great points, with another PB for Fearne and Caitlin, Amara and Izabela all slightly below their PB's. As the temperature ramped up there were some sizzling long jumps, with Caitlin producing a fantastic final round and there were big PB's for Amara and Izabela. The 800m took place in oppressive heat, with Amara sadly not able to finish. Izabela set a huge personal best, as did Fearne, with Caitlin storming home to take 15th overall in the competition, with the other girls just behind. There were huge overall pentathlon PB's for Caitlin, Fearne and Izabela. The team finished in a fantastic 6th, with a significant improvement on their points total from last year.

Intermediate Boys Octathlon
Luke Pichler led by example as always, producing a fantastic series of performances whilst very much keeping his eye on the bigger goals ahead. Day 1 was hugely consistent, with great performances in a combined events context in the long jump, discus, javelin and 400m. Day 2 started in style with a rapid 13.50 PB in the 100m hurdles, the 3rd fastest in the UK this year. This was followed by a new high jump PB of 1.86m, to keep Luke in contention against fierce competitor and friend Ruben from South Yorkshire. Luke's shot put was again consistent, before he finished in the baking heat with a committed 1500m. Luke took 2nd overall with a Northumberland Schools Record 4967pts to seal his place at nationals in September.

Intermediate Girls Octathlon
Senna, Isla, Sadie and Abi made up the Northumberland team, with Hannah and Amber forming the Durham team alongside Tilly from Gateshead. Day 1 started with the hurdles, which were very safely navigated by all athletes. High Jump was next up - with Hannah moving into 1st place after her 1.59m clearance, and Senna set a PB of 1.56m. Shot put was next up, with some big throws incoming. Senna smashed her club record with 10.92m, with Hannah, Sadie, Amber and Abi also setting PB's. Day 1 concluded with the 200m in fantastic conditions, with Hannah fastest of all and very close to her PB, whilst Sadie went sub-26 and Senna set a new PB, whilst Abi's fastest ever run was +2.1 wind assisted.  Day 2 began in the long jump, with the athletes taking advantage of near perfect conditions. Amber recovered well from two no jumps to record a committed valid mark in her final attempt, whilst Hannah, Isla and Abi all recorded solid jumps. Senna summoned the support of the crowd to leap to a huge PB of 5.14m, as did Sadie who set a long-overdue new PB of 5.72m to set a new club record and move her into a great position in the competition overall.

Javelin was next up - there were PB's here for Hannah, Isla and Senna, and this set the scene for the final event - the 800m. The heat made conditions so challenging, with Amber choosing just to start the race to ensure her Durham team were classified. Isla put in a storming and well paced run to match her PB and help maximize Northumberland's points. Abi had not completed an 800m for 3 years - despite many attempts, so the grit and commitment she showed to get over the line must be commended and was a great achievement. This left Hannah, Sadie and Senna battling right at the front in the home straight, trying to eke out every last ounce of speed. They all crossed the line around 2:28 in the blazing heat. Sadie took the overall title in a Northumberland Schools record of 4631pts, with Senna setting a massive overall PB of 4410pts for 2nd place, just a few points ahead of Hannah in 3rd, with Isla and Abi rounding out the top 10 and Amber not far behind despite not finishing the 800m.

The Northumberland Inter girls team qualified for nationals with a fantastic team win, ahead of Durham in 2nd, with Hannah also going through as highest scoring individual not in the winning team.

All athletes should be immensely proud of themselves for such an incredible weekend of competition - training for and competing in combined events takes massive commitment. A huge thanks to the support team (parents) who have provided amazing support over the weekend.

Results